ACCION Investments in Microfinance, SPC Begins Operations; Equity Investment for Financial Institutions Serving the Poor.

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 2003

ACCION Investments in Microfinance, SPC ("ACCION Investments"), an investment company with an initial capitalization of over $18 million, began operations on Feb. 28, 2003. Focusing on Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa, ACCION Investments will provide equity and quasi-equity capital to institutions specializing in "microfinance," the provision of financial services to poor households. Investors include leading U.S. and European-based multi- and bi-lateral financial institutions, private investors from both sides of the Atlantic and ACCION International, the company's sponsor.

Institutional investors in the new company are: Inter-American Development Bank's Multilateral Investment Fund (IDB/MIF), Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW), International Finance Corporation (IFC), ACCION International, Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) and The Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd. (FINNFUND). Private investors are Andromeda Fund, a member of COFRA Holdings AG, Switzerland, and the U.S.-based Arthur Rock 2000 Fund.

"This is a powerful innovation," said Enrique Iglesias, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, the largest single investor in ACCION Investments. "The launch of ACCION Investments is a natural outcome of the long history of the IDB in the field of microfinance and the strong collaboration the bank has had with ACCION International."

"IFC is delighted to join ACCION's initiative to fuel the growth of financial institutions serving the poor," said Peter Woicke, executive vice president of IFC. "Our participation in this company is an expression of the priority the World Bank Group places on bringing its resources to initiatives that have a direct, lasting impact on reducing poverty."

The board of directors of ACCION Investments is composed of representatives of the six largest shareholders and is chaired by Maria Otero, president and CEO of ACCION International. She noted, "ACCION Investments can lead the way in demonstrating the power of socially-conscious investment to drive social change, particularly where that investment incorporates the poor into the financial systems of their countries."

"ACCION Investments provides a smart way for us to be involved in microfinance and to do well while also doing good," said Stephen R.M. Brenninkmeijer, CEO of Andromeda Fund B.V., a private investor in the company.

ACCION Investments is a private segregated portfolio company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Gateway ACCION International Manager (GAIM), a wholly owned, Boston-based subsidiary of ACCION International, will serve as company manager under the leadership of managing director Enrique Ferraro. Recently appointed to head GAIM, Mr. Ferraro brings over 10 years of banking, investment and microfinance experience to his new role.

(This announcement appears as a matter of record and for informational purposes only. It does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities.)